Our annual Christmas Jumper Day took place as normal in December but this year the event was organised by Rowan Mitchell (LCA2). Rowan was working on his Contemporary Issues Task with his teacher Ms Canavan and he decided to run this fundraiser in aid of the Special Care Baby Unit in Mayo University Hospital.
Normally after an event funds are deposited into a bank account or delivered to an organisation but this was not possible as the HSE operates a central fund so the funds may not have gone directly to the SCBU in Castlebar, so Rowan contacted Sinead, the manager of the unit and she gave him a Christmas Wish List.
Rowan purchased items from the list including a microwave, toaster, charger and coffee machine for the parents’ room. He made individual stockings for babies with carefully chosen items which Santa himself delivered on Christmas Eve, bought extra coffee pods, blankets, hats, soft toys, treats for parents and staff to name some of the things he organised.
Rowan and some of his classmates personally delivered these items to the Special Care Baby Unit on Thursday, 21st December just in time for Christmas. Rowan would like to thank David Ketterick from Broderick’s Electrical for his advice and generosity, Michael O’Haire for organising transport to the hospital and to everyone who supported this most thoughtful and successful fundraiser.